The Swan Princess

*sigh* I was like around 2 years old when it came out and apparently it was a favorite of mine along with the Disney classics and such. And even though I'm 13 now.. i still love it. A total classic love story where the two "lovers" are separated and the Prince has to find the Princess. I love the songs 'This Is My Idea' and 'Far Longer Than Forever'. This Is My Idea is probably my favorite because it shows Odette and Derek grow up together and it's quite funny when they come to the "This is not my idea.. This isn't my idea.. of fun" since it usually concludes humorous scenes. Any young child would love it.. especially girls. The animal-trio are hilarious especially Jean-Bob and Speed.

Out of the Richard Rich animations, this is definitely the best. Here's why. I was hugely disappointed in the King and I, and Black Cauldron failed on character development. Swan Princess is an excellent movie, that is much better than the above titles. The weakest character was Derek, he was a bit of a drip, whereas Odette is a feisty and beautiful character, and I actually loved her hair. The voice cast is highly commendable- Jack Palance came alive in a positively booming way with the character of Lord Rothbart, who is a great villain and John Clesse is sidesplittingly funny as Jean Bob. There are some really funny lines "You should write a book...How to offend women in 5 syllables or less."(Jean Bob and Rodgers get the best of them) Can I also say, that this is one of the few animations that makes excellent use of the evil-sorcerer-back-for-revenge formula? The animation is actually not as bad as most people say, a bit deflated at times, but very nice mostly with some pretty colours and the songs are sweet and memorable especially Far Longer Than Forever. This is My Idea is a long song but also catchy and is a good look at how Derek and Odette went to hating each other to loving. I also absolutely loved the incidental music, and the ending is satisfying. Other than that, it is so worth watching! 8/10. Bethany Cox

It's been a little while since I had seen "The Swan Princess," but I could distinctly recall many scenes from it. I'd always enjoyed it before, so I decided to watch it again - for the most part, it still holds up.

Of course, it's a children's tale, so some slack must be given; it's not going to be as well-rounded (entertainment-wise) as a movie like "Toy Story," but it does contain its fair share of adult-oriented jokes along with silly physical humor that will amuse children.

The story is pretty basic - a lovely princess is destined to marry a prince, but an evil sorcerer (voiced by the diabolical Jack Palance) has other plans and kills the princess' father, locks the daughter away and casts a spell on her so that she turns into a swan at night.

It's predictable, but it's got a great vocal cast, and the animation is pretty good. Give it a shot. Avoid the unnecessary cash-in sequel.

Compared to previous attempts by competing studios to break Disney's stranglehold on the animated film market, The Swan Princess really is a good movie. The animation does not quite have Disney's finesse and got a little rough in places, but was still watchable and generally pleasing to the eye, unlike, say, Thumbelina. The songs, though not particularly memorable and vaguely cheesy in the manner of much older animated flicks, did not bring the movie to a grinding halt and actually managed to, in general, help it along. It has a plot.

That's not to say that The Swan Princess doesn't have its problems, mostly in its characters. The titular lead, Princess Odette, is a flat failure as a heroine--she never *does* anything except lead her one true love, Prince Derrick, to her--and even then, she only does that because her animal friends, Puffin, Speed the turtle, and Jean-Bob the frog, cook up the plan for her.

Derrick is much more likeable, and though throughout most of the movie he is a flaming idiot, he is a likeable and sympathetic flaming idiot--and he does learn. His mistakes are, as a rule, human and understandable, and in the end it is he who saves the day and finally learns the movie's apparent lesson--that beauty is not all there is in matters of love or anything else.

The development of their relationship is refreshing--rather than falling in love at first sight, they start out hating each other with a passion, and it takes them years--spanned capably over the course of one amusing if sugary song--to realize that they do love each other. And then Derrick blows it(!), and spends the rest of the movie scrambling to recover from his mistake.

The end battle was satisfying, though in general I prefer for the heroine to help save their hides in some manner. The movie-makers were not afraid to beat the living daylights out of their hero, and though the save he pulls in the end is nothing short of miraculous, it was at least shown much earlier to be within his princely capabilities.

Despite its flaws, I found The Swan Princess to be a satisfying and re-watchable movie--though I did catch myself agreeing with Derrick's comment (stated early in the movie) that he could do much better.

I happen to think that this was a very cute fantasy movie. It does not copy The Swan Lake and it is original. However, it has some good love scenes and I liked it in the sense that it was very fun to watch. I still remember the movie from when I've seen it years ago. It has pretty good animation and good songs to remember. The music is nice to listen to. The characters are displayed well and the voices are clear. This movie is adorable. I liked it very much and it was memorable. There are two sequels following it that I enjoyed as well. The third one was very funny. Anyways, The Swan Princess was satisfying. This is a great movie to show to kids and adults.